THIS May, Newcastle council will be up for grabs as voters head to the ballot boxes for the first time since last year’s general election.

Right now the city is the jewel in the crown of the Liberal Democrats’ strong presence in local government.

But with the Lib Dems nationally facing poll ratings of less than 10%, party members locally fear they may be about to be punished for Nick Clegg’s role nationally in the coalition Government.

Newcastle Council leader David Faulkner has made no secret of his dislike of the "unfair" cuts passed on to his council.

But even his very public stance against a budget shock which will see at least 660 jobs go might not be enough to keep him and his colleagues in power.

The current council make-up sees the Lib Dems in control with 42 seats, Labour on 34 and two independents. That means just six seat are needed for a swing to the left, and Labour believe they have a very strong case to make.

Even at lowest point in Labour’s ratings last May they regained 7 seats. And party planners say the seats up for grabs this time were last lost when Labour were doing badly in the 2007 polls.

But will this May go down as Labour’s most unwanted victory?

Councillors on all sides know the cuts announced over the last two months will start to be carried out from April, with little room to change a £50m budget blackhole.

Labour group leader Nick Forbes said the challenge facing whoever wins is unprecedented.

"The Tory-led Government is cutting £100m from the council over four years and there has been no serious thought from the Lib Dems about how they would respond to this," Mr Forbes said.

But Lib Dems hope residents will judge the results of the party locally.

Deputy leader Anita Lower said this year’s council tax freeze should be weighed against the situation 10 years ago, when the city faced a 9% increase and was the 10th highest in the country.

Mr Forbes, however, said jobs worries would need to be addressed as well as tax freezes. He added: "A Labour council would be able to work much more closely with others to try and work together to save jobs. We would hope to save at least some of the jobs that are under threat.

"But we also have to show we are capable of weathering the storm because we need confidence in the local economy."

Ms Lower said: "The city going to Labour would be a terrible reverse on all we achieved. When we talk about cuts we have to remember that is a result of the mess Labour got us into.

"You just have to look at tuition fees to see these are policies started under Labour."